On my way to vote in the independence referendum, the most cheering sight was the string of young women heading for the polling station, many with prams and children in tow. That autumn, it was evident politics was suddenly interesting people for whom the ballot paper had hitherto been as alluring as a tax return or a dentist’s appointment.

This Thursday’s election is a less electrifying and knife-edge occasion, and it’s likely far fewer will cast their vote. But will young women still be prominent? I hope so. In fact, I don’t need to rely on hope. Figures from the Scottish Youth Parliament suggest there is a burgeoning political class among girls and women aged 16 to 25. The SYP reports 48 per cent of its 150-odd members are female, and 44 per cent male (the others either declining to give their gender or deeming themselves non-binary).

In some ways this should come as no surprise. With Nicola Sturgeon running the country as First Minister, Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson leading the Scottish Labour and Scottish Conservative and Unionist parties and Tricia Marwick holding the powerful role as Presiding Officer, until parliament was dissolved in March, the message reaching the young – not to mention those of us in middle age and beyond – is unmistakable.

If it has achieved nothing else, Holyrood has made it as clear as if it had been tannoyed from the rooftop that politics is no longer a male bastion, nor one to which only the privileged classes can aspire.

From the steps of Bute House, one of Ms Sturgeon’s first statements as First Minister was unequivocal: “We will be leading by example on equal representation and encourage others to follow by addressing low pay and improving child care.” Having just reshuffled the Cabinet to a 50-50 split between the sexes, she continued: “The Cabinet appointments I have made today will ensure these issues have the highest priority.”

Some months later the election to Westminster of SNP MP Mhairi Black to a rapturous reception was living testimony to her credo.

So far, so heartening. And while achieving equality, and coaxing other sectors to follow suit is at times an uphill struggle, the First Minister’s example will without doubt already be making a difference.

Of course, the forces of resistance in some diehard quarters such as banking and investment suggest it might take active intervention or legislation to achieve the desired outcome across the board. For an avowedly proud feminist such as Ms Sturgeon, however, one suspects resistance to shattering the glass ceiling will only harden her resolve.

Sometimes good role models are all that are needed to spark someone’s ambition. For those thus inspired, the number of women MSPs – 46 out of 129 – will reinforce a picture of growing enlightenment, and a world in which women are welcome and valued.

The majority of young voters, however, will need a great deal more than the heightened presence of women in Holyrood, or Westminster, to change their self-confidence and aspirations and the society they are part of. That there are more millionaires in David Cameron’s cabinet than there are women is but one indicator of the work still to be done.

Sadly, that women cannot achieve equality on their own is one of the most dispiriting truths about the feminist or egalitarian cause. To achieve our ends, we need men’s support. What does it say about our country that, almost a century after we won the vote, and with half the population behind our right to parity in every sphere, entrenched prejudice continues to make certain professions and workplaces hostile for women who want to advance their careers?

The realms of high finance and surgery, and the highest echelons of the law and media, for instance, are often inimical to the applications or appointments of those of child-bearing age. That this is lamentable goes without saying. But could it be that even in the politically-correct corridors of parliament, the same also holds true?

With so many of our leaders espousing better pay, opportunity, conditions and childcare for women, you might assume Holyrood must be one of the most female-friendly places in Britain. Yet you cannot help notice that not one of the triumvirate of Ms Sturgeon, Ms Dugdale and Ms Davidson has children.

Is it premature, or simply impertinent, to ask if the requirements of these top jobs – the First Minister’s in particular – are such that while in post the idea of starting or raising a family is too difficult to contemplate? Or do other talented and ambitious women, with young families, fear putting themselves forward for such positions, whose demands on their time and energy might impact adversely on their offspring and relationships?

Certainly, life as a rank and file MSP should be no bar to family life, the hours and workload being tolerable and, unlike Scottish MPs, their constituency relatively close to home.

It is when an MSP takes on additional responsibilities and a higher public profile that their time is no longer their own, and nor is their private life. This should not pose an insurmountable barrier to ordinary domestic happiness, and for some the answer to having it all will include either a stay-at-home partner, or paid help.

Yet the suspicion lingers that to become a high-flying politician requires a degree of personal sacrifice or postponement and risk that many women, or couples, could not tolerate. Is it after all coincidence that Angela Merkel, the most powerful woman in Europe, is childless? Or that Hilary Clinton only ran for the presidency once her daughter was grown?

To the sceptical onlooker, the swelling sorority on the frontbenches at Holyrood is therefore a little misleading. Younger women who look to them as the spur for their own careers need to be aware that such achievement and success do not come cheap. The price of power and influence can be life-changing, requiring difficult choices. It is no surprise, then, that the type of women who do go on to reach their professional summit are perhaps even more committed than their male counterparts. These men will not have had it easy, but few will have been obliged to make lifestyle or private decisions that were as absolute, and sometimes irreversible as those necessary for women.

None of this is a tragedy, of course, whether it involves renunciation or delay. If women who have children decide to wait before taking to the hustings or the leader’s chair, will they or their constituents be hard done by? Quite the reverse. With age comes wisdom, something in too short supply in the debating chambers. And for those who advance so quickly there is no hope of stopping the clock or stepping off the merry-go-round, there are many less tangible but sustaining rewards.

Bright young women who see a future for themselves in politics should thus be aware that there is no barrier to their advance that cannot be overcome by hard work, determination and patience. But the greatest of these will probably be patience.